by Daniel Johnson
Mike Verna vs. Riley
Mike Verna is a wrestler from Brooklyn, New York who has put on some good showings for Warriors of Wrestling (WOW). In March 2014, WOW co-promoted a show with Fighting Spirit Wrestling (FSW) entitled WOW/FSW Fallout, which featured Verna wrestling on the fifth match on the card against the always charismatic “Rude Boy” Riley.
Riley comes out with a kendo stick. Interestingly enough Riley had just had his ass handed to him on WOW’s previous show, WOW Cold Fury 2014, by a more famous kendo stick holder, Sandman as well as Sandman’s son, Tyler Fullington. By contrast the closest thing to a weapon that Verna brings out is baby oil. Well, that and his devious manager, JGeorge.
Some dueling chants erupt as Verna pushes Riley and Riley pushes right back. It isn’t long before Verna and JGeorge start to play the numbers game with JGeorge distracting Riley and Verna clotheslining this solo act.
Verna has some natural showmanship. One instance where this stands out is when Verna makes it a point to show he is pulling off his elbow pad before landing a stiff one on Riley. Heck, it looks nearly as vicious as the ones Mirko Filipovic brutalized Gabriel Gonzaga with in their recent MMA fight.
Verna dominates much of the match and at one point hits a devastating stalling suplex in which he holds Riley up for a full 15 count. That is like three King Kong Bundy pins.
Although Verna appears impressive in his offense, his selling cannot be ignored. He finishes up the match by taking a kick to the face off the ropes and Riley walks out with the win.
The full match can be seen right here:
The next WOW show will be WOW Full Throttle 2015 on May 9 in Staten Island, New York. Click here for tickets.
For the full results of WOW/FSW Fallout click here.
For more in the 25 and Under series featuring some emerging American stars (sans baby oil) click here and here.
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